Thursday, 7 September 2017

God who is Rochev Ba-Aravot

This phrase is used as a
description of God at Psalms 68:5. From here, it made its way into the Barukh
Kel Elyon song. But what exactly does “aravot” mean here? Where is God riding?

In an earlier column, I wrote
about the many meanings of the letters Ayin-Resh-Bet . One meaning is “mix.”
Another meaning is “enter.” (This meaning lies behind the word “erev” as
evening; it is the time when the sun has set and early man viewed it as having
entered into its resting location.) The letters ARB also underly the word “aravah,”
a desolate, wilderness area.

The letters ARB also underly the
Hebrew words for “guarantor” and “pledge.” (These meanings likely come from the
“enter” meaning. One who pledges enters into the authority of another.)The letters ARB also underly the Hebrew
words meaning“pleasant” and “sweet.” (Many
have suggested that these originated from the ARB/mix meaning and originally
meant “mixed well.”) The letters ARB also underly the words “aravah”for willow, and “orev” for raven.

But of all these meanings,
which one fits at Psalms 68:5: “solu la-rochev ba-aravot?” The description is
of God, and the meaning is: “extol the one who rides the aravot. “

Of all the above meanings, the only one that might
reasonably fit is: desolate, wilderness area. Thus, one widely used translation
translated “rochev ba-aravot” as “rides through the deserts.” A similar idea is
found at Is. 40:3: “ba-midbar panu derech Hashem, yashru ba-aravah mesilah… .” (=clear
in the wilderness a way for Hashem, set up in the desert a path for our God).But God as a rider in a desolate area is
still an unusual image. More importantly, “rochev” usually means mounting an
object and superimposing yourself upon it, and not “riding through” something.

In astatement of Reish Lakish at Chagigah 12b, the “aravot” of Ps. 68:5 was
understood as one of the seven heavens . The precise Hebrew word he used is “rakia.”
(This interpretation did not originate
with Reish Lakish. It originated in earlier Jewish sources, not necessarily
within the circle of the Sages.) But
“aravot” does not otherwise mean “rakia/heaven” in Tanakh. (“Aravot” as “rakia”
is the understanding adopted in the Geonim and Rishonim as well, and presumably
was the understanding of the author of the Baruch Kel Elyon song. At Chagigah
12b, the Talmud tells us which specific items are stored by God in this rakia.)

Is there another way to interpret “rochev
ba-aravot” of Ps. 68:5?

The letters ayin-resh-pemean “drip” two times in Tanakh. Also, the word arafel (A-R-P-L) appears many
times in Tanakh with a meaning of “cloud.” (Sometimes it merely means “darkness.”)
A reasonable understanding of the word “arafel” is that ayin-resh-pe is its
root and the lamed reflects merely the addition of an ending letter. (See also
the related word with the root ayin-resh-pe at Is. 5:30.) Therefore, a scholar who thought creatively could
suggest that the “aravot” of Ps. 68:5 can be understood as if derived from a
root ayin-resh-pe, and that the image would be God who “rides the clouds.” (Note
that Rav S.R. Hirsch would often be willing to exchange “bet” with its fellow
bilabial consonant “pe” to help understand a word. Coincidentally, in a recent
column, I explained how the word Hefker, H-P-K-R, derived from an original root
B-K-R.)

Supporting the “rides the clouds”
interpretation of Ps. 68:5 is that we have such imagery for God elsewhere in
Tanakh. It is found at Ps. 104:4: ha-sam avim rechuvo (=who makes the clouds
his chariot) and at Is. 19:1:Hashem
rochev al av kal (God rides on a swift cloud).(See also perhaps Deut. 33:26.) Very likely, the “cloud” symbolizes
God’s chariot. It may be a symbol of glory as well, like the “ananei ha-kavod.”
(Many interpretations of the “cloud” symbolism are possible.)

Is the “rides the clouds” interpretation of “rochev ba-aravot” merely
unsupported conjecture? It turns out that with the discovery of Ugaritic, we
now have evidence for it.The Ugaritic
language first came to light in 1928, based on a discovery in a town in Syria,
near the Mediterranean coast. Ugaritic is an ancient Semitic language closely
related to Hebrew. The Ugaritic texts cover many centuries and predate the
Biblical texts. The discovery of Ugaritic has led to many new understandings of
difficult terms in the Bible. Relevant to our context is that the phrase “rochev
arafot” with the meaning “charioteer of the clouds” appears 14 times in various
Ugaritic mythological texts as an epithet of their most prominent god, Baal.
(Baal was believed to control the rainfall. This might be the basis for the
metaphor. But other interpretations of the metaphor are also possible. Regarding
their spelling “arafot,” there are other examples of Ugaritic “p/f” becoming “b/v”
in Hebrew.)

There is a tendency in Biblical scholarship to
overemphasize Ugaritic in interpreting Biblical texts. Scholars who believe
that Ugaritic has been overemphasized will likely reject this Ugaritic-based
interpretation of the Biblical “rochev ba-aravot.” “Rides through the deserts”
is admittedly a possible interpretation of the Biblical Hebrew, they would
argue. Why should we create a new Biblical word, aravot=clouds? Nowhere else in
Tanakh does “aravot” have the meaning “clouds.”

So we are left with the
following: 1) a “rides through the desert” interpretation which is at least
consistent with many uses of “aravah” elsewhere in Tanakh (and can be supported
a bit by Ps. 68:8), 2) a very early Jewish interpretation of “aravot” as heaven, and 3) a
“rides the clouds” interpretation which has a close parallelin Ugaritic, but which creates an unusual one
time meaning of “aravot “in Tanakh.

But as stated earlier, “rochev”
usually means mounting an object and superimposing yourself upon it, and not
“riding through” something. “Rochev” fits the “clouds” interpretation much
better than it does the “desert” interpretation. Also, later in the same Psalm,
at verse 34, we have the phrase: “rochev be-shmei shmei kedem” (=He rides on
the heavens of heavens of old). This serves as a much better parallel to the
“clouds” interpretation than it does to the “desert” interpretation. So I think
the “clouds” interpretation is the preferable one. The Daat Mikra edition of
Psalms is willing to adopt the “rides the clouds” interpretation as its main
interpretation in its commentary.

Of course, even though Ugaritic
and the Bible may be using the same phrase as a description of God, the
metaphor may have a different meaning in each of the two languages. As one
scholar has observed in this context, the use of the ancient metaphor in the Hebrew
language can be compared to the use of “new wine in an old bottle.” Admittedly,
the meaning of the metaphor in each language is still not entirely clear.

With regard to the early Jewish
interpretation, heaven, it probably arose based on a simplistic reading of our
verse, Ps. 68:5. The thinking was probably: If God is “rochev ba-aravot,”
“aravot” is likely a heaven. The heaven interpretation could be supported by
Ps. 68:34 which uses the phrase: “rochev be-shmei shmei kedem” (=He rides on
the heavens of heavens of old). But heaven/rakia
still does not fit the word “aravot.”

Finally, I would like to
mention one more (difficult) interpretation, that of Rav S.R. Hirsch. He
reinterprets “rochev” to mean “guide” and then translates the phrase as “guides
worlds through barrenness.” His suggestion is that through guiding and shaping,
God safely leads His world even through times that seem hopelessly barren.

I will close with a
little etymological humor. One of my favorite books is Ernest Klein, A
Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of
English. His entry for “safek” (doubt) has the following: “Of uncertain
origin”!

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Mitchell
First is a personal injury attorney and Jewish history scholar. His most recent
book is: Esther Unmasked: Solving Eleven Mysteries of the Jewish Holidays
and Liturgy. He can be reached at MFirstAtty@aol.com.He has no plans of riding on clouds, and is
content with riding on the A train. No
doubt about that.